Hello | Brian Quinn

Chapter 2

The months of June, July, and August, flew by like the speed of light.

Brian, Sal, Joe, and James spent most of their summer vacation working at the restaurant, trying to make a small earning for themselves.

The boys had enjoyed their jobs, but now school had re-entered the picture. For all of them, it was hard to lose everything that they had earned during their time working at the small pizzeria downtown. Those things included new friendships, important life skills, and most of all, the three girls that had caught their eyes from the beginning.

This situation was especially disheartening for Brian, since he had fallen hard for Rachel, the girl that he had met his first day on the job. She came in pretty frequently with her friends, immediately brightening the boy's day.

The two had formed an unlikely friendship, making his urge to get up and go to work even stronger. Every time that she came in, she'd speak to him, ending everything that she said with a smile. Her small grin filled his heart with pure joy, causing his pale cheeks to turn a bright shade of red.

Unfortunately, all things come to an end, including Brian's summer friendship with Rachel. He turned in his uniform a week before school started, promising to be back the next summer along with his friends.

It hurt him when he realized that one of the few people who truly made him happy, would be out of his life for who knew how long.

After a daunting week of getting all of his affairs in order, September 3rd crept up quickly on Brian.

"BEEP BEEP BEEP." The familiar sound of Brian's alarm clock rang, but for the first time, it didn't bring him the slightest bit of happiness.

The sound reminded him that he had to get back to the normal, mundane routine, that he was used to.

Brian staggered out of bed, reluctantly hopping in the shower. He dried off, placing his school uniform on himself. His outfit consisted of black dress shoes, slacks, a white button down, and a red and yellow blazer. The boy ran a small black comb through his hair, and sprayed on some cologne.

After a quick glance in the mirror, he grabbed his backpack and headed out the door. Sal drove up shortly after, and Brian hopped in the front seat. Joe and James were already in the back. James was on the verge of falling asleep, while Joe was busy finishing off his breakfast, which were two glazed donuts.

When the car pulled up to a stop sign, Sal slammed on his brakes, causing James to fly forward, smacking his face on the back of Brian's seat. The laughter was at an extreme in the car, as James flipped off all of his friends.

"You awake now, princess?" Sal taunted, receiving a scoff from James.

"I can't believe it's the first day of our junior year! We are graduating soon!" Joe exclaimed.

The sound of loud sighs filled the car.

"What's you guys' problem?" Joe asked, looking at his friends.

"I don't know if your obscene amount of optimism has clouded your judgement, but graduation means college, and after that, life begins." James groaned, staring out the window.

"That doesn't excite any of you?" Joe continued, still confused.

"NO!" The other three shouted at him.

Joe put his arms up in surrender.

"Just think, summer is only 9 months away." Sal snickered, causing his friends to moan.

"I've already started counting down the days." Brian sarcastically chuckled, the thought of Rachel entering his mind.

The group eventually pulled up to the large brick high school, which had red and yellow welcome banners aligning the top.

They grabbed their backpacks, and entered the large glass doors. After receiving their schedules, the boys dropped their things off at their lockers and headed to homeroom.

The flight of stairs that they had to climb almost killed Joe, who was heaving as they reached the top.

"You really need to lay off the sweets, Joe. You're sixteen years old, and can't even make it up some damn stairs without being on the brink of death." James laughed, as Brian and Sal chuckled.

"Well, you need to lay off being a complete asshole." Joe shot back, making James roll his eyes.

Room 215 came into the 4 boys' view, following a long trek up and down the long hallway.

They sat down at 4 desks that were in the formation of a rectangle. Their seats were located in the middle of the classroom, surrounded by 5 other groups of desks.

"At least we all have the same homeroom." Joe smiled, enthusiasm running throughout his body.

"You idiot, we go to a small private school. Everyone in the 11th grade will be in this homeroom." Sal belittled him, as Joe sighed.

"Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." James piped in, getting up to sharpen his pencil.

Meanwhile, as the boys talked amongst themselves in their homeroom, Rachel, Kristin, and Bryony pulled up to their new high school. The three of them had just transferred from the
all-girls private school, on the other side of Staten Island.

Clad in their new uniforms, they roamed the school's hallways since class wasn't starting for another 30 minutes.

"This place is so small compared to our old school." Bryony stated, peering around the corner of the corridor.

"Well at least there are boys here." Kristin beamed, elbowing Rachel as a male student passed by.

"She makes a good point." Bryony added, her and Kristin both turning their heads Rachel's way.

"You two need to get any of your little ideas, out of your heads. Guys are the last thing on my mind." Rachel emphasized, as Kristin and Bryony replied with sighs.

"Don't let Ryan's infidelity ruin any of your future relationships." Kristin explained, with Bryony nodding in agreement.

"Don't worry, I'm over that. For now, you two are the only ones that I care about." Rachel smiled, getting empathetic grins in return from her friends.

The group of three headed into the gym, curiosity still running about them.

As they reached center court, they spotted a girl sitting alone on the bleachers.

Rachel approached her first, being followed by Kristin and Bryony.

"Hey, I'm Rachel." The girl introduced herself, and so did the other two.

"Beth." The girl who's name that they had just learned, stood up, waving at them.

"Are you a junior?" Bryony questioned, as Beth responded with a nod.

"Well, we can all walk to homeroom together." Rachel beamed, inviting the girl to join them.

She accepted, and they eventually reached Room 215.

"How do you like the school so far?" Kristin asked.

"The day hasn't even started yet!" Beth laughed.

The other three joined in, all of them taking a seat at one of the groups of five desks. They paid no attention to their surroundings, only each other.

Same as the girls, the boys were immersed within their conversation, not paying attention to those around them.

A laugh filled the air, and it hit Brian like a ton of bricks. He would have known that sound if it had been 10 doors down from the classroom.

That was Rachel's laugh.

His head darted up, and there in front of him, was her.